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Non-arrest of shooter irks owner of slain cat

While no price tag can be placed on the true value of a beloved pet, Vickie Inda nonetheless believes humane justice was shortchanged recently when a man paid only $506 for fatally shooting her cat, Dexter.

The dollar amount represents the total fines assessed in Dewey Municipal Court to Alan Michael Reinken, a 21-year-old man who was cited for cruelty to animals and discharging a pellet gun in the city limits following the Oct. 28 incident at Lake Shore Mobile Home Park.

Reinken fired the fatal shot from an adjoining property. He told police he thought the cat was a stray.

But, Inda thinks the shooting may have been malicious — possibly payback for several squabbles between residents at the mobile home park and occupants of the neighboring building along Highway 75.

Inda said the shooting occurred early in the afternoon that Sunday. The cat had been roaming the grounds of the mobile home park, which is managed by Inda and her husband, Tim.

“Dexter followed us everywhere,” said Inda. “My husband saw the man shooting a BB gun and found Dexter right after he had been shot.”

The woman said a pellet that struck her cat in its back had caused the fatal injuries.

“He died in my husband’s arms,” Inda added.

She described Dexter as a 6-year-old black tabby and said they had adopted him from the nearby SPCA. Inda said another of her cats also was shot that day, but it survived after having the pellets removed.

A Dewey Police Department report said the slain cat did not have a collar and was running loose. Neither of the wounded animals were tagged or licensed, the report states.

DPD Sgt. Tim Stringer said local police have answered several calls to the property next door to the mobile home park in response to complaints from park management. Most of the incidents involved noise complaints, he said.

“I think, maybe, it’s kind of a vendetta,” said the Dewey police investigator.

Stringer said he had discussed the shooting situation with the cat’s owners and was aware Inda was not satisfied with his decision concerning the charges.

“This didn’t rise to the level of a felony,” Stringer said of the incident. “The man (Reinken) was held accountable under the law, things were handled within appropriate legal boundaries and the case was closed.”

Inda, who claimed Stringer “was very rude” when he talked to her on the matter, proceeded to contact the Washington County District Attorney about the cat shootings. The DA’s office told her that no county charges would be filed, she said.

Pointing out that BBs also had been fired in the direction of children riding bicycles in the mobile home park, Inda expressed frustration over the situation.

“It seems to me like, if they arrested a man for setting a rat on fire, they should take this a little more seriously,” Inda said, referencing an area animal cruelty case from earlier in the year.